Viewing porn affects the brain

05.07.2016

A group of researchers from the Institute of human development, max Planck society, found that people who dedicate to viewing porn a significant amount of time, the brain is not working as those who never or almost never seen videos with similar content. First, the viewing of pornography affects the brain areas responsible for motivation to action and a reward system.

photo: morguefile.com

To participate in the study, researchers recruited 64 men, whose age ranged from 21 to 45 years. All participants did not suffer from any physical or mental illness. Experts asked men how much time per day on average they spend watching videos or images with pornographic content. Also the volunteers with the help of special equipment measured the amount and activity of different brain regions, and tested how their brain reacts to certain obscene image.

As it turned out, fans of pornography were observed less volume and activity of the striped body of the structure involved in the formation of motivation and the reward system. One of the sections of this part of the brain in those who frequently watched pornographic films when you view candid photos, in contrast, showed greater activity than those of such films are almost not seen.

However, experts note that they discovered patterns are not necessarily due to the fact that viewing porn definitely affects the brain. It is not excluded that in fact a causal relationship in this case may be different: people who by virtue of natural predisposition or any other reason show a lower activity area of the brainresponsible for motivation, are more prone to watching porn, and that’s why I watch them often. Therefore, according to the researchers, is that talking about the dangers of porn is somewhat premature. However, scientists believe that they found a curious addiction, a more detailed study which in any case would be curious from a scientific point of view.